Hong Kong’s amusement park needs urgent HK$5 billion bailout

Published on : Monday, May 11, 2020

The struggling theme park in Hong Kong Ocean Park needs a vital monetary assistance of HK$5.4 billion, to evade the running out of cash and going out of business next month. This warned by the government of Hong Kong that this amusement park also supports the travel and tourism of Hong Kong throughout the year.

The legislators will be asked to scrutinize the government of Hong Kong’s proposed emergency aid this week, in a revision to previous plans for a longer-term injection of nearly double that amount. The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah said that the civic officials had changed their plans because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought the leisure and tourism industries of the city to their knees.

Rather than the unique plan of letting the amusement park conversion into a resort-style attraction, the funding is aimed to make sure that the amusement park can survive the coming 12 months, while devising a better strategic plan. The bailout money will also allow the Southern district site to pay off a HK$3 billion commercial debt.

He also described that the operational and financial challenges the park faced as “unprecedented”.

A cross-departmental committee within the government of Hong Kong would be formed to consider the way forward for the park, while the revised budget plan was expected to be tabled at the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee on Friday.

In the month of January, the minister had announced that the government would bail the park out to the tune of HK$10.64 billion, despite reservations voiced by legislators from across all of the the political angle.

This monetary improvement was planned to convert the 43-year-old amusement park into an adventure-themed resort to attract international and domestic tourists with the addition of seven new zones and 20 more themed attractions by 2027.